Page 14 of Forbidden Fiancé

“What do you mean?” I asked and looked over at Natalie. Was she pregnant? Was that why she and Ethan decided to get married? Had our evening just been a way for her to have one last night of fun before she settled down with a man she obviously didn’t love but felt she had to be with?

“Natalie, you idiot. Don’t you remember that Ethan and Natalie are getting married?”

“Oh, yes. Of course,” I said, visibly relieved.

Ethan laughed. “Oh Dad. Did you think I knocked Natalie up? Hell no.” He pulled Natalie towards him and kissed her neck. “Not from lack of trying. But there will be no kids for us.”

I shot a look at Natalie. She still wouldn’t look at me but I could see the pained smile. She didn’t like Ethan’s comment and I knew she wanted kids. Had they not discussed something so important? It only added to all the reasons she didn’t belong with him. And it made me worried why she would react that way to his comment.

“You mother must be very disappointed to hear that,” I said and looked over at Gwyn.

“Mom, can continue to spoil me. What does she need grandkids for? Plus, Natalie can shower all her attention on me. Isn’t that right, sugar?”

“That’s certainly one way to look at it,” Natalie said and smiled at Ethan. The smile didn’t meet her eyes. My stomach turned at hearing Ethan calling Natalie ‘sugar.’

I wanted to yell at my son that he didn’t know Natalie at all. How could he think she loved him, that she wanted to have a life with him when she so clearly was not interested in him? I wanted to tell Natalie she didn’t have to sit by him and take his shit. I wanted to pull her to me and tell her that I understood her. That only I wanted what was best for her and she needed to get as far away from Ethan and this hold he seemed to have over her.

“Maybe it’s time you grew up and took care of yourself. I thought I taught you to be resilient and not rely on anyone else,” I said to Ethan.

“Come on, Dad. Natalie and Mom like to take care of me. I’m just giving them what they want.”

“You’re so considerate of others,” I said, my voice oozing with sarcasm.

“That he is. And he gets it from me,” Gwyn said and patted Ethan’s hand affectionately.

“I get all my good traits from your mother,” Ethan said.

“That you do. That you do,” Charlie said.

I stole a look at Natalie but she still wouldn’t look at me. She hadn’t eaten much of her breakfast and I wondered if it was because she had lost her appetite. She certainly had worked up one with me.

An awkward silence fell between us. Natalie picked at her food while we all looked around us. After a moment, Gwyn said. “Honey, why don’t you give Natalie a tour of the boat and let her get settled?”

“Oh yeah, sure. I got your luggage in our room. I’m sure you want to get out of that dress. I would be more than happy to help you with that,” Ethan said as he stood up.

“The tour would be wonderful, thank you,” Natalie said as she gathered her and Ethan’s plate and stood up.

“We’ll be around when you’re done,” I said.

Natalie didn’t acknowledge my comment as she walked back inside the boat. I watched her go. Jealousy and resentment filled me. I hated thinking that Ethan or anyone was going to be alone with Natalie. I certainly didn’t want him helping her out of her dress or anything that might happen after.

Yet, I knew it wasn’t my place to say what she could or couldn’t do. Technically, Ethan was her fiancé, not me. I might have told her I loved her. I might have asked her to marry me, but she hadn’t broken it off with Ethan. If she had, he wouldn’t have been acting the way he was. I wanted to believe that she would choose me, that she was just making the best of a bad situation. But if that was the case, why wouldn’t she look at me? Why wouldn’t she talk to me? Why wouldn’t she just tell him they were over and she wanted to be with me?

There were too many questions and not a single answer. I had no choice but to sit and watch the woman that I love head off with her fiancé to do things I didn’t even want to imagine.

The trip that I had been looking forward to had taken a very dark turn.

Chapter 9

Natalie

It was strange to see all the things that I didn’t like about Ethan after spending only one night with Luke. I had thought Ethan’s selfishness was a cute quirk. I thought it was something he would grow out of. I had initially thought it was a sign of strength and self-reliance that he cared so much about himself and did whatever he wanted. I thought it was because he didn’t care what others thought of him and while it was that; but it wasn’t in a good way.

He had been so quick to dismiss me and any concerns. Sitting with him on the sundeck with his family, I felt I was just an accessory to him. Something he wanted next to him to make him look good. He could have been there with any woman and been fine. He didn’t care about me, just how I made him look to his family.

I was thankful that he hadn’t pushed me too hard about how I got on the boat. It was a blessing that he thought he had told me the boat’s name. He was selfish enough to think that I would have immediately forgiven him and come to him. He never would have thought that he would need to apologize to me or think he did anything wrong. That he could dismiss everything so easily told me he didn’t really care about me. It didn’t help that he wasn’t at all concerned where I had been or slept the night before.

“And this is our home for a while,” Ethan said as he opened the door of his cabin.

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